A large cavalcade of warriors painted and weaponed pranced on every side. They left a little space about a red-painted horseman who stayed near the general.
“Cochise,” said Maria. “I see Taza, too; and Nah-che.”
The Chiricahuas uttered a loud whoop. At signs from the red-painted horseman they spread right and left along the opposite edge of this park. When the Bowie party and Captain Sladen arrived, General Howard and the Cochise company were waiting.
“D’yuh notice?” remarked Jack May, one of the men who had been sent to Bowie by the general. “Ev’ry bronc’ (‘broncho’ was a name for the wild Chiricahuas) is stationed where he can dive into that little canyon an’ be out o’ sight in a jiffy. Those fellows are smart.”
Cochise had daubed all his face with vermilion. He seemed tense and excited. His large black eyes darted to and fro, searching for treachery. His hair was graying, Jimmie observed; he had grown much older.
Taza was here. And in the background, Chato and Nah-che. Jimmie signed to Nah-che, and Nah-che responded, but he did not dare to come over, yet.
The council was begun at once, with General Howard and officers, and Cochise and his captains, sitting in the middle of the circle.
A tall red-bearded man, who was Tom Jeffords the trader, did the interpreting.
“The Great White Father has sent me to make peace between the Chiricahua and the Americans,” said General Howard.
“Nobody wants peace more than I do,” answered Cochise. “I have done no harm since I came from the Cañada Alamosa. My horses are few, and I am very poor. Once we were a large people. We lived well, at peace with everybody except the Mexicans. But one day the soldiers seized my best friend and killed him when he was in prison. Right there at Apache Pass other soldiers hung up my brother, after they had attacked me when I had surrendered. So I have fought the Americans and the Mexicans, but the Chiricahua are getting less every day. Why shut us up on a reservation? We will keep the peace, but we wish to go around free, the same as other people.”